“Gossip Girl” Season 3, Episode 8: TV Recap

“Gossip Girl” went all politics on us this week, as Nate’s cousin Tripp ran in the mid-term election to become, like, a Congressman. All the show’s antics take place at Tripp’s election night bash at Chuck’s new hotel.

Vanessa gets tapped by Tripp to shoot a behind-the-scenes election documentary. While he’s out campaigning, Tripp sees a guy drowning in the Hudson River and dives in and saves him. It just so happens Vanessa captures the entire incident on tape.

On the surface it looks like Tripp is a hero, but when Vanessa goes through her tapes so she can sell them to a local news station, she realizes the incident was fake. Even though last week she was a total fibber, this week she’s goes honest and exposes the near-drowning for the quick swim that it was. Nate tries to stop her by bait-and-switching the real TV producer for a fake one, but Vanessa gets savvy to the trick and rats out Tripp anyway.

Everyone thinks Grandfather Archibold is responsible for the attempt to make Tripp look heroic, but he insists it wasn’t him. With the polls about to close, Nate falls on his sword and takes the blame for the fake saving. It wasn’t Nate who pulled a miracle on the Hudson though — it was Tripp’s seemingly innocent wife.

Serena and Blair are total cat-fight and cake-fight all show long, having verbal sparring matches like the old days. Blair doesn’t want Serena at the party but Serena scores an invite for her and her fake boyfriend anyway. Blair bites back by exposing Patrick-the-famous-but-fake boyfriend’s drinking problem. Serena wins the battle of the wits, though, when she blabs about Blair’s new bestie -– an NYU student who doubles as a prostitute. It was classic GG –- nasty and biting to the end.

The fight ends with Blair’s face in a cake courtesy of Serena. Blair declares the friendship over. The two share one brief moment — their eyes meet across a busy street -– but it doesn’t happen. They don’t make up even though we think they might.

Dan sums up the absurdity of the entire show when he tells Serena (wearing a sequin jacket in the dorm midday) and Olivia that it’s weird to be talking to his ex-girlfriend, talking to his current girlfriend about her fake boyfriend who is also his girlfriend’s ex. That statement happens as Olivia is panicked that Dan will see her tell a really dumb story about him on the Jimmy Fallon show.

Despite her efforts, Dan finally sees the late night comedy and while we think he’s angry at his famous GF, he really just bolted out of the intense family scrabble game they were playing because he realizes it’s the one-month anniversary of dating Olivia and he has to light a bunch of candles on the floor of his Dumbo crash-pad to celebrate. Phew.

And talk about over-dramatic foreshadowing: Serena gets chatty with the newly elected and very married Congressmen Tripp Vanderbilt.

But enough about this week –- can you count to 3…some. The much-hyped ménage et trios is seven days away and it looks like anyone on the show is up for, uh, grabs.